Activists call for accountability from Mosaic after polluted water spill during Milton - WMNF 88.5 FM

The Mosaic Company says polluted water flowed into Tampa Bay from their Riverview plant after Hurricane Milton, and one activist group wants answers and accountability.

Rainfall from Milton overwhelmed the phosphate mining facility in Riverview, and Mosaic representatives say over 17,500 gallons of polluted water may have spilled into the bay.

Gil Smart is the executive director of Vote Water.

“Here, we have a situation where, yeah, they’ll take care of it after the fact, but it might just happen again, and we really don’t know if it will, and we’re going to try to make sure it doesn’t, but oops, maybe sometimes accidents happen, that sort of thing. There has to be some sort of guarantee that we’re not going to see continued spills,” Smart told WMNF.

But he says legislators may not create the needed regulations.

Vote Water and Stetson College of Law released a report this month tracking corporate funding to politicians. You can find the full report here.

It shows Mosaic has contributed over two and a half million dollars to political campaigns since 2018.

“Polluting industries are quite generous with their political giving, and that ensures them sort of a friendly audience amongst legislators, and it helps staves off an additional regulation,” Smart said.

Donations were also found from other major polluters in South Florida.

Mosaic did not respond to WMNF’s request for comment.

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